cooking show. Huh. And a TV miniseries about a circus, a drifter and a whole bunch of supernatural goings-on.
The creepy circus show won hands down.
She was still watching it four hours later when Trig returned. Well, maybe not watching it intently. It was entirely possible that she’d drifted off to sleep at some point between the first episode and wherever they were up to now. Daylight had come and gone. Dusk ruled the sky now.
Trig looked at her, looked at the computer screen.
‘Relaxing,’ he said.
She did like a man with a crooked smile. ‘Doctor’s orders.’
‘You do know you’ve seen this before.’
‘As far as I’m concerned, it’s all new. And if this is new, think what else could be an all-new experience. I’ve been re-virginised.’
‘Don’t even go there.’ Trig pointed a warning finger at her.
‘Think about it. I’ve barely been kissed. My breasts have never been tou—’
‘Lena!’
‘I love it when your voice gets all gruff and commanding.’ She lay back on the bed, all biddable and boneless. ‘Who knew?’
‘No sex. Doctor’s orders.’
‘Honeymoon,’ she reminded him.
‘You’re just bored.’
This was true. ‘So entertain me. What’s new in the land of out there?’
‘Well, the shopping here is still an experience to remember and I still pray for my life whenever I get into a taxi. The taxi driver’s name this time round was Boris.’
‘Did he know where to find the best wedding rings?’
‘Of course he did. What kind of question is that?’
‘And did you find any you liked?’
‘You want to see?’
Lena sat up fast. Of course she wanted to see. ‘What kind of question is that?’
He put his hand in his jeans pocket, pulled out a little velvet pouch and tossed it onto the bed.
Lena eyed the little pouch with extreme anticipation. ‘Not that I don’t appreciate the right-to-my-fingertips delivery but shouldn’t you be on bended knee?’
‘Couldn’t you just think of the turtles?’
‘I would if I could remember them. Bend. And give me the proposal speech.’
And wonder of wonders he went down on one knee and made Lena breathless.
‘Heaven help me,’ he said.
‘Keep talking.’
‘Okay.’ He cleared his throat and swallowed hard. ‘Okay, I can do this.’
‘Hang on.’ She smoothed back her hair and straightened her top, sat up straight, shoulders back and an imaginary book sitting on her head. No need for complacence just because they’d done this before. ‘Ready.’
‘Glad one of us is.’
‘Take your time.’
He took a deep breath instead. ‘We’ve known each other a long time,’ he began raggedly. ‘I’ve loved you for a long time. You’re it for me. For better and for ever, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than at your side, so...Lena Aurelia West, will you marry me?’
Those weren’t tears in her eyes. They weren’t.
‘Yes,’ she said simply. ‘Yes. I love you too.’
Trig let out a breath and Lena realised, belatedly, that he was nervous. Really nervous.
‘Why are you shaking? You knew I’d say yes.’ She closed the laptop and pushed it away. She reached out to her husband and coaxed him up onto the bed. ‘That was so beautiful. You should do it again.’
‘Once was enough.’
‘Twice.’
‘Right.’
‘You look pale.’
‘Probably fear.’ He picked up the little royal-blue velvet pouch. It had silver writing on it that she didn’t understand, that she didn’t need to understand as he pried loose the string, took her hand, turned it palm up, and tipped three rings into it, two of them significantly smaller and more ornate than the third.
She picked up the first of the smaller rings. The brushed platinum had a glossy wave running through it. The second of the smaller rings was identical, except that this time the wave was a string of vivid blue sapphires, running from small to large and back to small again. Separate, they were beautiful. Together, on her finger, they looked superb.
‘Real enough for you?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’ They must have cost him a fortune.
She looked to the third ring. Brushed platinum, same as hers, but no wave ran through the thick plain band. She picked it up and studied the finish before reaching for his hand and pushing it onto his finger.
‘Suits you,’ she murmured. ‘I’d have got you one with a wave as well. And I’d have been wrong. Have I mentioned lately, just how much I love your hands?’
‘What?’
‘Hands. Yours. I have a total fetish for them. Goes back years.’
‘How many years?’
‘You remember that kitten we found stuck in the drainpipe?’
‘Yeah, but I remember the kitten’s mother that found us two minutes later more. She bit me.’
‘She did.’ Lena grinned at the memory, for it was vivid, bright and there. ‘You have a gentle touch, big guy. Even when under attack. That’s when I fell for your hands.’
Her husband blushed, and Lena grinned some more. ‘Truly, you’re such a beautiful man, inside and out. I just wish I could remember what I did to deserve you. Because looking at you and then looking at me... Adrian, can I ask another question that you’re not going to want to answer? Because it’s a big one, and it’s bugging me.’
‘Can I reserve the right to not answer?’
‘Where I got shot—there’s so much scarring, so many hollows. Am I still able to have children?’
He didn’t have to say a word; his eyes answered for him. Lena nodded and bit down hard on her lower lip. ‘Okay.’ She drew a ragged breath. ‘Okay. God. I don’t know what you see in me.’
‘Don’t you say that,’
